China vows to unleash growth from grassroots

China must lift the incomes and spending power of hundreds of millions of farmers and workers to keep the world’s second-biggest economy from faltering on its ascent, the nation’s leaders said today.

China’s broad blueprint for releasing domestic wellsprings of growth by giving citizens better incomes, welfare and housing was issued by the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee, after a four-day meeting that settled on the nation’s next five-year development plan starting in 2011.

Over that time, the Chinese economy could grow by about 50 per cent to $7.5 trillion, towering past Japan and moving closer to the biggest economy by far, the United States, government economists have forecast.

But domestic rifts and inequalities could drag down China by fettering household demand and stirring unrest, officials fear. The party meeting urged them to maintain a "sense of peril." "Stick to making welfare and improving livelihoods the fundamental starting and end point for faster transformation of economic development," said the communique from the meeting, which was issued by state-run media.

While the United States has pressed China to rebalance its economy by raising the value of the yuan, the meeting showed how focused Beijing is on domestic policies to coax growth away from exports. It did not mention the currency. The party leaders vowed more balanced income distribution, improved healthcare, and a stronger social welfare net so ordinary citizens feel more confident about spending savings.